


music to my ears

by ilovewrighting



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Adorable Cisco Ramon, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Grumpy Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells, M/M, based on a tumblr prompt, cisco plays piano, harry and cisco live in the same apartment building, harry has his usual anger management issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22591063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovewrighting/pseuds/ilovewrighting
Summary: When the song first started it annoyed Harry, and he was sure that it would continue to annoy him. In fact, when the soft piano notes began, Harry had scowled at the ceiling, then jumped up and grabbed a broom. With the broom held up, primed to jam against the roof of his apartment, Harry stood frozen. An angelic voice rang out amongst the notes, and Harry paused..Inspired by a tumblr fanfic prompt text post : ‘I always sing along to the song you are playing on the piano in the apartment above mine’ AU
Relationships: Cisco Ramon/Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells
Comments: 7
Kudos: 68





	music to my ears

**Author's Note:**

> The song is Open your eyes - Tha los' (Carlos Valdes) arrangement , found on youtube. It’s a cover of Bobby Caldwell’s song, released in 1981.

When the song first started it annoyed Harry, and he was sure that it would continue to annoy him. In fact, when the soft piano notes began, Harry had scowled at the ceiling, then jumped up and grabbed a broom. With the broom held up, primed to jam against the roof of his apartment, Harry stood frozen. An angelic voice rang out amongst the notes, and Harry paused.

_I see you, in a hopeless place, how could you be so blind?_

Harry worried his lip between his teeth. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, unsure of how he wanted to proceed.

_You’re still regretting the love you left behind… I see you go through the changes, sitting alone each night._

The voice was crystal clear, so soulful and genuinely beautiful. Harry hovered, looking down at the broom in his hands as he listened to the careful piano riffs.

_Open your eyes, let me show you the light, you may never find a love that's right._

Fighting the small smile creeping at the corner of his lips, he set down the broom. Opening his laptop he continued with his work, the gentle music blending in serenely in the background.

The days go by and Harry hears the song over and over, so much so that he begins to hum along. It starts to get familiar and Harry smiles every time he hears the first few notes. It becomes so much like second nature, he almost forgets that he grabbed the broom that very first day.

"Since when do you hum songs you like?" Jesse asks him the question one night while they’re cooking dinner together and it startles him so much that he sputters before he responds.

"I, I uh, just have it stuck in my head." Harry said, hand waving dismissively.

She narrowed her eyes at him and Harry changed the subject quickly. He'd never admit it but he ushered Jesse out with a careful eye set on 8pm. It was usually around then when his upstairs neighbor began to practice and Jesse was too savvy not to recognize the song she had just heard her father humming.

Harry sighed in relief as she walked through his front door and disappeared and there was still peaceful quiet in the room. Shortly after eight, just as Harry had predicted, the gentle piano music accompanied by the angelic voice started up.

Harry busied himself washing dishes from his dinner with Jesse so he could tell himself he wasn’t just listening to his neighbor’s sweet melodies.

Still, when his faceless neighbor finished, around nine, Harry found himself frowning and sighing, as he collapsed into an armchair. He wasn’t grumpy that he didn’t have the charming music to listen to anymore, no certainly not. He was just grumpy because he had to usher Jesse out early. Sure, Harry told himself, that was the only reason.

.

A few days later Harry came in upset from work. He had to cancel lunch plans with Jesse when his boss made him work through lunch. He hadn’t been quite so frustrated, so annoyed, in a while. Growling as he entered his apartment, he knocked over a stack of papers from his counter and some books down off of his desk.

“Damnit.” Harry said aloud, pulled shaking hands through his hair, roughly tugging at his scalp. “What a day. What a fucking day.” He growled to himself as he knocked over some knickknacks and a decorative dish of rocks on his coffee table which he sent clattering loudly to the floor.

He heard shuffling above him and before he knew it, twinkling piano floated down from the apartment above. It wasn’t his usual practice time and he wasn’t even singing yet, but Harry found himself feeling instantly calmer. He stared at the rocks he’d sent clanging to the floor and felt embarrassment heat his cheeks.

Harry took a deep breath, closed his eyes and let the stranger’s beautiful music float over him, relaxing him. He took a seat on the couch and eventually brought his feet up, laying down and making himself comfortable. As he breathed deeply, he felt more and more relaxed. The stranger began to sing and Harry found himself able to smile.

He blinked his eyes open, realizing how quickly he had stopped being angry. Work had heated Harry for years, gotten under his skin in countless ways. He had always had a problem with his anger, taking it out on everyone around him and finally when he stopped doing that, he continued to take it out on his material surroundings. It was always a trait that Jesse had detested but something that Harry had a very difficult time breaking himself of.

He had never thought of music as an outlet or something that could calm him and yet here Harry was listening to this angel-voiced stranger and finding himself letting go of a frustrating day quicker than ever before. Harry found himself feeling puzzled, if not a little impressed.

.

It was maybe a week later when Harry was downstairs in the lobby of the apartment building, collecting his mail. He was minding his own business, just grabbing his mail and heading back upstairs when it happened.

He listened as someone else entered from the street. The other person began to move past Harry, going for the elevator. Most of the way to the elevator, the other man paused and turned to look at him.

Harry, always acutely aware of his surroundings, turned to look back at the other man.

He was struck immediately by curly windswept hair and the most beautiful blinking brown eyes he had ever seen. The man's eyebrows were pulled together in the middle, his head cocked to the side. Harry noticed the way it made his curls fall slightly lower on that side, and brush against his shoulder.

Telling himself to focus, Harry raised an eyebrow at the stranger. "Can I help you?"

It came out ruder than he had intended so he was relieved when the younger man scoffed a laugh. "I'm sorry... were you just humming my arrangement?"

Harry felt heat rise to his cheeks. He sputtered and stuttered like he had with Jesse and dropped his mail on the ground in nervous exasperation. This was the stranger from upstairs with the angelic voice? This gorgeous man with flowing curls and a kind smile? Harry bent to pick up his mail, only looking up when the other man bent too, and helped him retrieve the scattered envelopes.

There, both of them crowded on their knees, each of them holding half of Harry's mail in their left hands, the stranger extended a hand to shake with Harry's. Harry stared for a beat before he shook the other man’s hand.

"I'm Cisco. Didn't mean to sound so accusatory. I was just surprised." He was grinning when he handed the mail to Harry and they got back to their feet.

"Thanks. I'm Harry." He ran a nervous hand through his hair. "If I'm humming your song then I guess it means you're my upstairs neighbor."

"Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm sorry if I've been practicing too loudly." Cisco said with a loaded smile.

"No, no," Harry said quickly. "It's fine. Actually... It's really nice." He felt heat rise to his cheeks and looked up and away from the kind stranger.

Cisco hesitated. Their interaction could be over if he walked over and pressed the elevator button... and Harry watched sadly as he did just that.

"Going up, right?" Cisco asked, holding the door open for Harry. Feeling more surprised than he probably should, Harry nodded and hurried into the elevator with Cisco.

The air between them felt ... intimate.

"You're very talented." Harry said, before he could stop himself.

Cisco laughed, the sound echoing in the elevator, and Harry wondered if everything that came out of his mouth sounded as much like beautiful music.

"Thank you. Listen, if you ever hear me practicing and wanna come up and see the real thing..." Cisco let the sentence hang in the air and Harry met his gaze with raised eyebrows. "Well, I guess you know where to find me." Cisco said with a shrug and Harry wondered if he imagined the slight blush adorning Cisco's cheeks.

The elevator pinged at Harry's floor and he hesitated a moment. "I'd like to take you up on that." He stepped out but Cisco held his hand in the jam of the elevator door to keep it open.

"Seriously..." Cisco said, rocking from his heels to his toes, a little closer to Harry. "Come up anytime. Okay?" Cisco asked and Harry's pulse buzzed in his ears.

"Okay." Harry said, and Cisco pulled his arm down, taking a step back into the elevator. Harry watched as the doors slid closed on Cisco's sunshine smile.

.

The next time Harry heard Cisco's beautiful music, he went into full on panic mode. He scrambled around his apartment, throwing on different clothes, and dousing himself in cologne. All the while he hummed along to the song Cisco was tinkering out on the piano.

_There are times, when you need someone, I will be by your side. I take my chances before they pass me by._

Harry scurried through his apartment, picking up a bottle of white wine, changing it for a bottle of red, then leaving the wine altogether and heading into the elevator.

_Oh Darlin’, there is a light that shines, special for you and me. You need to look at the other side, you’ll agree._

His pulse raced as he got off on Cisco's floor. The piano music was still drifting into the final notes but Harry, impatient, rapped his knuckles against Cisco's door. The music came to an abrupt stop and Harry waited a few beats, until a very windswept and smiley looking Cisco answered the door.

"Harry! What a surprise." Cisco said. "Wanna come in?"

Harry had been so nervous, so stressed that Cisco wouldn't even answer the door.

"I'd love to." Harry said.

As the two got to know each other, nothing but gorgeous harmonies echoed from the apartment. Harry was surprised, things didn't usually work out this way for him.

But as he sat on Cisco's couch watching his nimble fingers glide over the keys, he felt like maybe this time things would be different. Perhaps Cisco would be different.

.

Harry and Cisco now spent most Sunday evenings cooped up in Cisco's apartment.

They refused to call it a date. It wasn't a date. It was just… an appointment. An unspoken thing between them. Now, when Harry heard the gentle piano notes begin, he would whistle around his apartment, getting his shoes on and smiling the entire elevator ride up.

Harry wouldn't call it a date, he was adamant. The fact that he sometimes spritzed himself with cologne made no difference. The fact that a few weeks ago he had shown up with a bottle of red wine in one hand and a bottle of white in the other… it made no difference.

The fact that he tapped his foot anxiously and smoothed his hair while he waited for Cisco to answer the door no matter how many weeks in a row they kept their appointment made zero difference.

“Cisco, how's your week been?” Harry asked with a bright smile when Cisco answered the door.

“Great! This new piece I've been working on is giving me some trouble though. Come on in.” He answered, swinging the door open and gesturing Harry inside.

“So dramatic, I'm sure it sounds wonderful.” Harry said, batting a hand at the air.

A blush colored Cisco's cheeks. “You're just saying that.”

“Are you implying that I'm embellishing?” Harry asked, a sharp eyebrow raised.

Cisco smirked. “No, not implying. Outright stating!” petulantly, he stuck his tongue out at Harry.

You'd never catch him admit it, but the sight of Cisco sticking his tongue out at him made Harry's heart tighten in his chest.

“Play it then,” Harry suggested folding his arms over his front and plopping down on Cisco's couch.

Cisco sat down at the piano and Harry was instantly captivated. His fingers danced on the keys like Harry had never seen before. He played with grace and with a light in his voice that Harry adored.

As the gentle notes came to a soft close, Cisco shook his head. “See? Sloppy.”

Harry scoffed, openly. “Sloppy? Stop being so critical. You’ve only just started practicing it and I didn’t even notice any rough spots.”

“It’s all in my form. You can’t see from the couch. Come sit on the piano bench with me and you’ll be able to see how I keep almost messing up, or using the wrong fingers.” Cisco suggested, scooting over and patting the seat beside him.

Harry stood stock still for a beat too long before rising, stiffly and settling next to Cisco on the piano bench.

There, next to Cisco, they were so much closer. Their sides were almost flush against each other and Harry was pretty sure he could smell Cisco’s coconut conditioner.

Cisco began to play again and Harry was entranced with his fingers as they moved easily over the keys. When he finished his second take of the song, Harry turned a little and looked at Cisco over the rims of his glasses.

“It was just as beautiful over here as it was over on the couch. If not, moreso.” Harry said softly.

Cisco flushed a deep red and tucked his curls behind his ears. “You’re just saying that.” He whispered back.

“Why would I just say that? I have no reason to be dishonest.” Harry asked, a slight angle to his eyebrow punctuating the question in his voice.

Cisco stood from the piano bench and Harry frowned. He had been enjoying being pressed close into Cisco’s space far too much. Cisco’s shoulders shrugged up and down. “Not sure. I’m not sure why you’re so nice to me.” He said quietly.

“You’re very talented, Cisco, I’ve told you. You’re the kind one, letting me listen to you practice all the time.” Harry corrected, standing to come closer. Cisco was still turned away from Harry; he raised his hand to touch Cisco’s shoulder and stopped just before making contact.

“Thank you, Harry. I appreciate it.” He said again. He turned to meet Harry’s gaze so Harry brought his hand down, where he had almost touched Cisco, almost got up the nerve to cross that line.

“Just being honest. You’re one of a kind, Cisco.” Harry complimented.

Cisco was staring at Harry with all this warmth and emotion. The simple, unassuming piano bench had jostled them together, and Harry was catapulting them the rest of the way from friends to something more. The line was visible now, and he felt it was, perhaps, surmountable.

“I’ve been really enjoying our time together. You’re a great listener.” Cisco said.

Harry chuckled a little. “Enjoy doesn’t begin to describe it for me,” he said fondly.

Cisco bit his lip, deliberating and suddenly Harry felt like he could see the question begging in the shorter man’s eyes. Could the tension between them be real and not imagined? Could Cisco be into Harry the same way Harry was into Cisco, even though Cisco was the talented musician and Harry was just some grumpy guy who lived downstairs?

A million thoughts rushed through Harry’s brain at once. Alongside all of the doubts and wonders, he was also struck with how soft Cisco’s lips looked, how beautiful and long his fingers were, stretched over the keys before, and now, how his cheeks were slightly flushed from their back and forth. Harry loved that Cisco’s cheeks lit up in a brilliant blush whenever their bickering reached a boil.

His eyebrows twitching down in question, leaning in slowly, leaving Cisco plenty of time to shove him away if he wanted, Harry started to close the distance between them. He fully expected Cisco to reject his advances, but something about him was just magnetic. Harry was drawn into Cisco’s orbit and he couldn’t break himself free even if he had wanted to.

There, standing a little ways away from Cisco’s midnight black piano, Harry gently cupped the younger man’s jaw. Cisco gasped a little, softly, when Harry finally touched him, his fingers scrambling to grab onto Harry's forearms.

Their lips met and everything was beautiful music, everything was harmony. Then, Harry’s rough hands twisted into Cisco’s gorgeous curls and Cisco groaned. Harry had thought nothing would sound more beautiful than Cisco’s singing voice, but for what felt like the first time in his life Harry was elated to be proven wrong.

“That was… wow.” Cisco said softly.

“Wow is right.” Harry said pointedly, nudging Cisco’s nose with his before separating from his bubble.

“You know what I just realized…” Cisco said smiling softly and shifting his weight from foot to foot.

He rubbed the back of his head nervously and smiled sheepishly at Harry.

“What’s that?” Harry asked

“I just realized I was right. You were only being so nice because you _like_ me.” Cisco teased and Harry rolled his eyes.

“I would say that I’m moreso intrigued by you… fascinated with you… impressed by and enthralled with your talent… but sure. I guess you could say I _like_ you.” Harry said, his fist pressed to his chin thoughtfully.

Cisco giggled and looked away at the praise. “Shut up.” He tucked loose hair behind his right ear, his cheeks bright red. “I mean… thanks.” He studied his shoes before glancing up at Harry from under his lashes.

“Don't thank me yet." Harry teased.

“Hmm…” Cisco pushed up on his tip toes so he was closer to Harry’s height. “Okay then I'll thank you later," He ducked his head to press a quick kiss to Harry’s jaw. The older man groaned appreciatively.

Cisco pressed his lips to Harry’s softly, chastely. He leaned back a little, then pressed another quick kiss to Harry’s lips.

Harry found his mind going blank at Cisco’s impatient hands and eager lips on his skin. He realized he would be lucky if he could just keep up with Cisco. “Don't you have to practice?” He rasped, finally.

Cisco giggled pleasantly into the soft skin of Harry’s neck. “I think that’s enough practice for today. The rest can wait.” Cisco pulled his head back up to share a grin with him and Harry mirrored Cisco's loaded grin back at him and scoffed a laugh.

Harry’s arms tighten around Cisco. “Fair enough,”

“Anyway," Cisco says with another quick smooch. "I have it on good authority that _I sound great_.”

**Author's Note:**

> I usually don’t write an entire work from Harry’s point of view so this fic was a bit of a challenge for me! That being said, I really enjoyed writing it. I would greatly appreciate any and all constructive criticism, particularly about writing from Harry’s perspective ! As always, if you take time to leave comments / kudos, you are the bomb.com!!


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